Explaining "Web Application Developer" vs. "Web Site Designer" to prospective clients

Question

How do I go about explaining that I am a "Web Application Developer" and not a "Web Site Designer" to prospective clients - without talking myself out of the project?!

Often I am approached to "design a web site" for someone where it turns out to be more of a "brochureware" presentation site and less of a real web application.

While I am a highly skilled developer, I am not a graphic artist. That said, I would still like to be able to close deals with prospects without disqualifying myself. Simply stating, "I do backend work, not frontend" will quickly end the conversation, and along with it my opportunity for work.

Sure, I can just subcontract the project to a real designer and mark up his rate, but I would rather be up front with the client that I am not going to be the guy doing the actual work and they would be paying $120/hr for $60/hr work.

...and then they will ask price - is visual design often quoted hourly like app dev is, or will I get sucked into the oblivion that is fixed fees?

Answer 1

I tend to say something along the lines of "My job is to develop the stuff you don't see, but that make your site work"... And that is actually quite true.

... And you might add something that says that building a website is an activity that requires several very different abilities, like :

• creating something that looks nice, and is usable ; that's a job on its own ; do your client have designed to logo of their company ?
• integrating this nice looking thing into a dynamic application ; that one is your/my job ^^ Your clients send/receive e-mails every day, but do they know how it works ?
• administration of the hardware / server : your clients use a computer every day to go in the Internet, use Word/Excel and the like, but do they know how to install those ? How to secure their network ? How to deal with security alerts the right way ?

You can use analogies with other processes ; designing / building / using / repairing a car, for instance ; some people understand better when we just don't speak about computers at all...

Answer 2

First of all, I think you're exaggerating a bit - you don't really want to have a $30/hour designer working on a $150/hour website. If you do, and your client doesn't notice a difference, they deserve what they get.

And if we're talking about, say, $60 - $75/hour range vs $150/hour (which, IMO, is more realistic), you have to count in the time you spend working with said designer, so it's not like remaining $75-$90 goes directly into your pocked with you doing nothing.

If I am a client, I want a FINISHED PRODUCT and I'm paying YOU to deliver. Consider yourself a general contractor. I DON'T WANT to deal with designer / tester / technical writer / what have you myself - that's what I'm paying you for. My time may be a lot more valuable to me than $90 / hour difference. I may (will) get a second / third / fourth bid if I think you're too expensive.

That said, if you need to placate your conscience you can always bill couple hours less.

Answer 3

First thought: You sound like you're a good developer, which is a great foundation in this situation because people feel that we have a broad understanding of technology -- and they're right! You're correct in your insecurity though - a good developer is not exactly what they're after.

They want a solution, and if you can become the guy who knows how to navigate all the complexities involved in delivering that solution... Well, then you're the guy. And you're much more valuable.

And you don't have to stop coding, either. Which has always been my phobia.

So that's more or less how I present myself to my clients. I'm a developer, but I'm also a competent project manager. I know how to take your project from here to done even though it may involve designers, IT guys, additional developers, datacenters, etc.

Working with other professionals: You probably aren't in a position to hire folks. That's fine, but find good partners, and you can market your self as a shop or consulting group that is good at more than one thing. Believe me, people will appreciate that! For instance, we have a fantastic partner in Romania that we use for a lot of design, and we add value because we know how to get results from them and handle all the communication and so on. My customers don't want to talk to 3 to 6 people, they want a single point of contact who is accountable for all of it.

One thought here: try to find people who do this full time. Moonlighters and people doing side jobs have constantly let me down. I sympathize; I know what it's like to be spread too thin.

Fixed prices: You will probably have to deal with fixed prices, and you will need to hold your partners to fixed prices (or have some other mechanismf or controlling costs) if that's the case. Once the relationship becomes more comfortable, I usually try to give clients a range of what I think a job will take -- 5 to 8 hours, etc. And I let them know that fixed prices are a little bad for them because I have to assume some risk, which means they get charged more.

Most companies still want actual fixed prices for larger projects though and many large companies are shockingly comfortable with being overcharged in this situation. Fixed prices seems to be unfortunate fact of life in the contract development space.

Answer 4

Do you bill enough hours that you could consider hiring a program manager/product owner type person at least part time to do most of your customer interaction? Because if you do, you can abstract the "design/code" questions away from the customer; let the program manager really focus on figuring out what the customer wants built.

It sounds like your average customer isn't that technically savvy. If that's the case, figure out a way to speak their language (which most experienced program managers can do). They really don't care about the difference between a designer, a developer, and a tooth fairy that shows up and delivers the site that they want.

It's also worth considering whether you really want to take on projects that are mostly web design. If not, you should work on improving your marketing materials to focus on what you do best (interactive line of business web applications, or whatever).

You can steer the conversation toward what business problem the customer wants to solve, and propose the statement of work that best matches their objective. I think this will do the most good, and then it's never a question of misleading them. It's about packaging up a solution that matches what they want.

Answer 5

The way I always try and explained it, since I'm a Developer not a Designer is.

Developer -> Makes it work.

Designer -> Makes it pretty.

Of course there are vest generalizations, but for the most part they're true.

Answer 6

-> Developers creates the product

-> Designers create the package

Answer 7

"I do backend work, not frontend" will quickly end the conversation, and along with it my opportunity for work.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. It's generally a good idea to be honest with prospective clients, and if they do not understand exactly what your job entails up front, then they may end up expecting too much from you when the job is done, or for future projects.

If you do really want to push your services on them, you could always try to point out exactly what kinds of benefits you will be offering to them. Make a point in explaining how much value can be added to the end-product by using your expertise.

A car may look great on the store floor, but if its powered by a lawn mower engine held down with duct tape and chewing gum, the only thing it's going to be doing is looking pretty and collecting dust in your garage.